Wi-Fi password-sharing feature in Windows 10 raises security concerns

With the launch of Windows 10, anyone who walks into your house and gets your Wi-Fi password for their PC could potentially let all their friends onto your network, thanks to a new feature that has ignited controversy online.

Called Wi-Fi Sense, the feature is designed to make it easier for people to get Internet access for their devices while they’re on the go by automatically logging them into wireless hotspots. It does so with a two-pronged approach: by logging users into select open networks and also by allowing them to share secured connections with their friends (and vice versa). Perhaps unsurprisingly, that has drawn the ire of people who care about wireless security.

If someone with a Windows 10 device logs on to a new network, they can check a box to share that access with their contacts, who could include their Facebook friends, Outlook.com contacts and people on their Skype contact list. This isn’t exactly a new feature — Microsoft introduced it with Windows Phone 8.1 last year, but it didn’t make much of a splash at the time because not that many people use Windows Phone.

Craig Mathias, a principal at the Farpoint Group who specializes in wireless technology, said in an email that the feature was “a cheap hack.” He went on to say that the Wi-Fi Alliance’s Passpoint technology, which makes it possible for some devices to connect securely to wireless networks without going through a login process, is “more important.”

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